AFP
London, July 7

Top seed Lleyton Hewitt ruthlessly crushed David Nalbandian's magical run to become the first Australian in 15 years to win the Wimbledon title in London on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Australian, the overwhelming favourite after storming through the championship, confirmed his position as the best player in the world by adding the Wimbledon crown to the US Open title he claimed last year with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 victory after one hour 57 minutes over the 20-year-old Argentinian.

He also became the fifth youngest winner in the Open era and the first Australian to triumph since Pat Cash in 1987.

It was the most one-sided final since John McEnroe beat Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in 1984.

Nalbandian, seeded 28, and the fourth youngest finalist, had enjoyed a dream run becoming the first Argentinian to get to the final, achieving that record in his debut appearance at the championships and in his first grasscourt event as a senior.

Playing on Centre Court for the first time, and appearing in only his fourth Grand Slam, Nalbandian never settled into a pattern or rhythm as nerves and tension went a long way towards handing the title to Hewitt in a bruising baseline duel.

The tone of the final was set immediately when Nalbandian served up a double fault on his way to losing the first game.

He was to lose his serve three times with another double fault sealing his fate as Hewitt took the opener 6-1 after just 33 minutes of a one-sided contest.

The Australian surrendered just four points on his own serve in the first set racing to 4-0 with an ace before Nalbandian showed some fighting spirit by saving two break points to register his first game of the final.

Hewitt saved two break points in the opening game of the second before the players were forced to scamper off to the locker room after 41 minutes on court because of rain with the world number one 1-0 ahead.

Back on court after 15 minutes, Hewitt held but then, to the delight of the crowd, Nalbandian rallied to register his first break to go 1-2 when he retrieved two smashes and finished off the point with a sweet volley and a pinpoint lob.

Nalbandian began to settle into the match mixing up his shots to keep Hewitt, struggling to find his own normal fluency, on his toes and made it to 3-3 before the showers returned for a second time after 68 minutes of action.

When play resumed, over half an hour later, the sun came out and so did the famous Hewitt forehand which worked to devastating effect as he broke to lead 5-3 before he clinched the second set 6-3 with another ace after 76 minutes.

At that stage of the final, Nalbandian had hit a total of 28 unforced errors and just eight winners.

Both men saved break points in the first two games of the third set before Hewitt fired a fierce backhand down the line to edge ahead 2-1.

To his credit, Nalbandian wasn't going to surrender without a fight and broke back to 2-2 but then his game fell apart as he lost serve to go 3-2 down after a close line call went against him.

In disgust and frustration, Nalbandian threw down his racquet, argued with umpire Mike Morrisey but all to no avail as Hewitt served a love-game to edge ahead 4-2.

He hit two more double faults as he lost serve again to hand his opponent a 5-2 lead and Hewitt took the title when his opponent hit long.

Three hours before the final, Nalbandian had been granted permission to practice on Centre Court in order to get a first taste of the famous arena having played his quarter-final on Court Two and his semi-final with Xavier Malisse on Court One.

As it turned out, it was a fruitless exercise.